Photos posted to the Internet Thursday showed the
radar-avoiding aircraft airborne near the northeastern city of Shenyang with its landing gear still down.
Two Chinese-made J-11 fighters accompanied it on the flight, which Chinese
military enthusiast websites said took place Wednesday and lasted about 10
minutes.
Ross Babbage of Australia's
Kokoda Foundation and Greg Waldron of Fliightglobal magazine in Singapore said the plane known as the J-31
appeared to be a smaller version of the J-20 prototype that was tested last
year in the southwestern city of Chengdu.
While both planes feature stealth design features, their
true capabilities in terms of sensors, radar-absorbing coatings, and other key
factors remain unknown. It isn't known when, or if, either plane will go into
production.
"I think it's a fairly straight forward evolution to
develop advanced fighters at this time, but you can't read too much into it in
terms of capabilities," Waldron told The Associated Press.
The smaller and nimbler J-31 appeared intended for a fighter-interceptor
role similar to the U.S. Joint Strike Fighter, while the heavier J-20 would
target airfields, warships and other ground targets, he said.
The technical barriers and development costs for such
aircraft are enormous and the U.S.
has struggled for years to deliver on their potential.
Another major challenge for China is developing engines for its
fighters that are reliable and capable enough for such cutting-edge aircraft,
Babbage said. China remains
overwhelmingly reliant on Russia
for engines for its latest J-10, J-11, and J-15 models, the last two of which
were developed from Russian Sukhoi fighter-bombers.
"The demands in the engine area are very
substantial," Babbage said.China
flexes military muscle with J-31 stealth jet
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